From: Purrzian@aol.com (Jessica)
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997

You might try putting the dye in a small mister bottle and spraying the dye on and rinsing in water. Much easier to control the color of the dye on your pattern. I have done it this way for a long time and find it is very useful.

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From: Lois
Date: Fri, 1 Aug 1997

I let my stitching soak for about 10 mins. just in case when it dried it would look too dark but it's fine!! Has definitely added to the picture and I won't have a second's thought about trying it again!

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From: Lesa
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 1997

My oldest UFO (which is now a UFFO) took me 10 years to finish. It's an old world map, done in mostly pastels, double globe and stitched on off-white Aida. Now after 10 years it was grungy beyond hope. I also didn't like how bright the pastels looked as I wanted an aged look (hey, it was 10 years in the making after all!).

So I brewed up lots of tea bags and added instant coffee to the brew and dunked the whole finished thing in and got the look I wanted. A nice mellow finish and you can't tell how the Aida had yellowed. Since I also quilt, I tea dye lots of fabrics so I had no qualms whatsoever and knew the coffee would give me a darker, mellower look.

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From: Mary-Carol Sliter
Date: November 11, 2000

I have done some tea dying, and I find the 'dunk' method the best. I brew really strong tea, and dunk it several times. Then I let it dry to determine the exact color. I can then repeat the process if I need to. I haven't had any trouble, haven't ruined any pieces and have been very pleased with the results.

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A short article on tea dying is available in the April 1998 edition of The Cross Stitcher on page 17.

The Cross Stitcher
P.O. Box 5003
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5003
800) 444-0441

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For another article on tea dyeing fabric, see the article by Martha Beth Lewis entitled Tea- and Coffee-Dyeing Floss and Fabric.